Batman V Superman: Revitalized
by Writing Avenger 2016
Summary: Old enemies and new threats bring two heroes in conflict with each other. One trying to be a symbol of hope for the world, and one who has succumb to the darkness of it. My rewrite of Batman V Superman. what changes? what stays the same? read and find out. reediting and co-written done by AuthoroftheInsane.
1. Chapter 1: A Death in the Family

Chapter 1: A Death in the Family

It was a dark, stormy night, a somber, chilling mood that reflected throughout the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Gotham city. Inside, laminated by a single, flickering lightbulb sat a lone man, one who was slowly growing more and more impatient. His partner had been gone too long, and he was growing anxious to know if she had completed the mission he had sent her out on. If she had failed him, he would have to show her the error of such a grievous mistake.

The door was suddenly flung open as a flamboyant woman clad in a red and black jester costume came waltzing into the light. She had her signature large mallet in one hand, and an unconscious body over her shoulder.

"Puddin!" She called cheerily. "I'm home!"

The man rose to his feet, a twisted, grotesque smile on his face. He stepped into the light, revealing the demonic visage of the notorious villain, the Joker. He clapped slowly as he approached his partner, none other than the lovely Harley Quinn.

"Harley dear, wherever have you been?" Joker greeted in a flamboyant and almost endearing manner.

"Sorry I'm so late," she apologized, dropping her captive on the ground. "But this little one puts up a fight."

Joker looked down at their 'guest', his ever present grin growing larger at the sight of the ever familiar red and yellow costume. With a gleeful kick, Joker forced the captive to roll over, revealing the masked face of Robin, young partner to the Dark Knight, and Joker's long-time nemesis, Batman. The boy was pretty beat up with cuts on his lip and cheek and bruising across the side of his face.

"A Red Robin, just what I always wanted!" Joker exclaimed embracing Harley. "Harley my dear you know me so well."

"Glad you like it Puddin." Harley responded before the two shared a kiss.

After they pulled away, Joker knelt down to take a closer look at his captive. He grabbed the boy's face, making his meet his eye.

"I hope your trip here wasn't too rough." Joker inquired.

"Nah it was great." Robin responded, facing his clownish captor with as much courage as he could muster. "You should try it sometime… 'Puddin'..."

Joker's grin shrank a bit as he stood up. For a moment, it looked like he was about to walk away, but instead, he spun around and kicked the Boy Wonder in the face. Robin went skidding a few feet, spitting a bit of blood as he came to a stop.

"Little brat." Joker snarled. "You'd think that the Bat would have thought teaching manners would take precedence over Batarang practice. Harley, fetch my things."

"Sure thing Mistah J!"

Harley then went off, leaving Robin and the Joker alone. Once more, Joker loomed over Robin, his grin returning in spades.

"If the Bat won't teach you some respect, then I'll just have to beat it into you."

With that, the Joker let out one of his infamous maniacal laughs. Robin flinched at the sound, knowing all too well that all he could do was lay there in fear. 

Meanwhile, on a far off rooftop, a thug was running for his life. His heart was pounding out of his chest, sweat pouring down his forehead, and his lungs felt like they were about to burst. Behind him, the shadow of a cloaked man was quickly gaining on him. The thug just kept running, praying he could somehow outrun his pursuer. He looked behind him, surprised to find that he wasn't being followed. For a moment, he dared to hope that he had lost him. That hope was quickly dashed when he ran headfirst into a familiar, and forboding, body. The thug looked up to see the towering figure of the Batman, looming over him like the devil himself. Fear instantly gripped his heart as he tried to back away.

"Where is he?" Batman questioned, his deep, gruff voice laced with more anger than the thug would have thought possible.

"Look man, I-I don't know anything." He stammered. "I was just a drive-"

Before he could finish, Batman kicked him in the stomach, launching him to the edge. The thug looked up to see Batman slowly closing in on him.

"You were a driver for the Joker and his goons." Batman practically shouted. "You know where he's hiding."

"No! I was just a getaway driver! I never saw the place!"

Once Batman reached him, he picked the thug up by the collar and hung him over the edge. The thug was panicking profusely; sweat falling from his face like raindrops.

"I'm only going to ask this one more time." Batman snarled as he pulled him closer to his face. "Where is he?!" 

Back at the warehouse, Harley had returned, a large golf bag full of various objects slung over her shoulder. She placed it next to Joker, who immediately began rummaging through it like a child on Christmas.

"Let's see what we have here." Joker said, his fingers wiggling as he plunged them into the bag. The first tool he pulled out was a baseball bat covered in red and black diamonds.

"Too ghetto." He said, tossing it aside. He then pulled out a golf club, the end of it covered in a dark brown crust that could only have been dried blood.

"Too sportsmen like." He commented, also tossing it aside. He then pulled out an axe, the handle covered in what looked like purple and green streamers, and the blade covered in that same brown crust.

"Too medieval." He once again commented, tossing it aside like the others. He then pulled out a rusty crowbar.

"Ah here we go." Joker gleamed as he turned to Robin.

Robin's eyes widened at the sight of the crowbar as he tried futily to get away. Harley quickly stopped him, kicking him over to Joker. The mad clown stomped down on Robin's chest, eliciting a choked gasp of pain from the boy

"Now, time for that lesson in manners we were talking about." Joker taunted, raising the crowbar. "Listen carefully."

He then struck the boy. Then again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Over and over he struck him with the crowbar, relishing in the crunch of bones and the grunts of pain. As blood began to spray across the warehouse, Harley giggled like a schoolgirl, enjoying the show. 

Elsewhere, Batman was racing down the streets of Gotham in his signature vehicle, the Batmobile. The thug he had encountered finally gave up the Joker's location after being dropped a few stories. Once he had it, he wasted no time. It had already been 30 minutes since Robin had vanished, and Batman knew from experience that Joker didn't need that long. He floored the gas pedal, weaving in and out of traffic, praying he would get there in time to stop the psychotic clown and save his partner.

"Hang on Jason." He muttered, even though their comm link had long ago been severed. "I'm coming for you." 

Joker finished up Robin's 'lesson', wiping his face with his sleeve. As he did, he checked his watch and his eyes widened as he saw the time.

"Whoopsie." He chuckled. "Time sure does fly when you're having fun."

Discarding the crowbar, Joker turned to Harley, who was munching away on a small tub of popcorn.

"Harley, time to go!" he called out.

Harley jumped to her feet, the popcorn falling to the ground and mingling with the bloodsplatter. She grabbed her mallet and smiled.

"All set Mistah J."

"Good. Now it's time for us to leave. Hope you find the accommodations to your liking."

Robin just laid there silent.

"Great. Tell the Bat were sorry we missed him. But he'll love our little surprise."

With that said, and one more signature laugh, the two cruel clowns in crime left. Once they were gone, Robin slowly tried to get to his feet. His entire body screamed in pain, and it was obvious that his legs were broken. Grunting in pain from even the smallest movement, Robin crawled over to the warehouse door. Miraculously, he made it to the door, but only to realize it was locked from the outside when he tried to open it. Defeated in that attempt, he rested on the door, hoping that Batman would reach him in time. As unconsciousness began to claim the boy, he was unaware of the bomb hidden beneath the warehouse, strong enough to destroy the building and all its contents. 

When Batman finally reached the warehouse, he didn't even bother bringing the car to a full stop. He jammed his finger on the autopilot button before opening the roof to jump out. He got within inches of the doorknob, his glove brushing against the handle before-

 **KABOOM!**

The warehouse exploded in a fiery blaze. Batman was sent flying back, just barely coming to a stop a few feet away. His face became a mask of horror as he stared at the burning wreckage.

"JASON!"

Undeterred by the still burning flames and the rain of debris, Batman ran into the wreckage. He began sifting through the remains, desperately searching for any sign of his partner. As he moved a rather large piece of debris, he spotted a familiar pair of green gloves. Batman ran over, quickly unburying Jason.

"Jason, hang on. I've got you."

As he pulled Jason out, Batman's face fell. Jason was motionless, quiet, and completely devoid of any life. He looked down at the boy, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face.

"No…"

For the first time since his parent's death, Batman, no, Bruce Wayne, cried. 

After that night, Bruce Wayne withdrew from the world. He abandoned the Dark Knight, feeling that if Batman couldn't even save his own comrade, how could he save Gotham. He swore to never don the cowl again, nor would he ever take a partner again. The pain was too much, and he wouldn't let another innocent soul fall pray to his foolish crusade.

The Joker disappeared as well, feeling that his homicidal antics were worthless without a symbol of good to corrupt. As he put it "Without Batman, crime has no punchline."

Little did either of them know that forces greater than either of them could imagine would force them both to step back into the light and duel again. Maybe for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2: Gods Among Us

Chapter 2: Gods Among Us

 **Metropolis. When the world was introduced to the Superman.**

It was like a scene from War of the Worlds. A large ship, alien in origin and deadly in design, hovered over Metropolis like a predator over its helpless prey. From his helicopter, Bruce Wayne could only stare at the craft shot a beam of unidentifiable energy into the heart of the city. As the copter landed in an abandoned crossway on the outskirts of the city, Bruce grabbed his phone and called Lucius Fox. More than just the technologies manager for the Metropolis branch of Wayne Enterprises, Lucius was also a close friend of both Bruce, and Batman.

"Lucius?" Bruce called, his voice betraying his panic. "Luciusm are you there?"

 _"Here Mr. Wayne."_ Lucius responded as Bruce sighed in relief. _"We noticed the thing a few minutes ago. We've started the evacuation. The buildings nearly empty."_

"Be sure you get out of there too."

 _"I'm staying until the whole place has been evacuated."_

"Be careful."

 _"You? Advising caution?"_ Lucius couldn't help but chuckle. _"That's different."_

Bruce hung up before quickly getting into the jeep that was on stand-by, making his way deeper into the city. Up above him, the skies were filled with chaos as matter collected around the top of the ship that was still destroying buildings with each pulse it generated. Fighter jets attempted to battle the ship, but were only caught in its pull and crashed into the streets.

One of these unlucky jets crashed just feet in front of Bruce's car, forcing him to make a detour down a back alley. Once he came back out onto the road, he was determined to let nothing stop him from reaching his destination. Whether it be oncoming traffic or roadblocks setup along the way, nothing was going to deter him.

As he continued to watch the skies for any more falling debris, he noticed something that forced him to stop. Getting out of the jeep, he, as well as a large mob of civilians, could just barely make out a tiny aircraft flying directly into the spaceship. Once it made contact, it sent out a shockwave that made the ship appear to be collapsing in on itself.

Knowing that time was getting short, Bruce abandoned the jeep and made a mad dash for the Wayne Enterprises building.

Inside the building, Lucius was sweeping the floors, checking for anyone else still inside. Once he saw that the place was empty, he began his own evacuation. He was in the stairwell, about halfway down the seemingly endless stairs when his phone rang. Already knowing who it was, he answered.

"Mr. Wayne?" he answered.

 _"I'm on my way to you. Where are you?"_

"13th floor. Last check for anyone else still inside. On my way out no-"

Before he could finish, the ground shook with the power of a 9.0 earthquake. Barely keeping his balance, Lucius looked out the window to see what appeared to be two men grappling each other as they flew through the air. The two powerful beings crashed into the floor below, reducing the stairs, and all of the structure's support beams into rubble.

Outside the building, Bruce looked in horror as several blasts of red-hot energy came shooting through the walls, slicing them like butter.

"Lucius?" Bruce called, praying for his friend's survival.

 _"Bruce, I'm sorry I-"_

Before Lucius could continue, the line went dead and the building began to collapse.

"LUCIUS!"

Without any certainty he could save anyone, or who or what was tearing apart the city, Bruce Wayne ran head on into the chaos without even a second's hesitation. A dust cloud engulfed his vision for what felt like hours. As it slowly disappeared, he could see people who were able to get out of the building, but not the one he was looking for.

"Help!" he heard someone call out in a choked scream. "Somebody!"

Bruce went over to the direction of the voice and saw a man with an I-beam crushing his legs.

"Help… I can't feel my legs." He yelled again when Bruce tried to lift it.

"Hey can we get some help down here?!" Bruce demanded, desperate to save at least one person today.

"Mr. Wayne, help me." The man pleaded.

"You're gonna be alright." Bruce reassured him. "What's your name?"

"John," the man answered still in pain. "John Corben."

"John, it's gonna be alright. You're gonna be ok."

"You're the boss, boss." John answered as more men came to help.

One man helped Bruce lift the I-beam while two others pulled John out from under it. Immediately, it became clear that John's legs were beyond saving. Bruce visibly winced as he shrugged out of his coat. Tearing it apart, he began tying a make-shift tourniquet around thetops of John's thighs.

"I can't feel my legs." John exclaimed.

Finishing tying off the touriquets, Bruce looked down at John desperately.

"I'm looking for Lucius Fox. Did anyone see him get out?" Bruce asked.

John paused for a minute, obviously trying to think through the pain.

"I'm…" he paused for a moment. "I'm sorry sir."

That shook him. It shook him to his core. Lucius Fox, his lifelong friend, the man who helped make the Batman possible, taken from this world. His daze was only interrupted when he saw a little girl standing on top of a collapsing part of building. He quickly dashed over to her and grabbed her before the debris collapsed.

"It's alright." Bruce re assured the child as he placed her on the ground. "It's ok. You're gonna be ok. We're gonna find your mom. Do you where you saw her last?"

The girl pointed to the burned and broken wreck of the building. Bruce pulled the girl in to comfort her with a hug while he looked up at the wreckage that took this girl's mother and his friend. A sudden soundwave bursted above them. Bruce looked up to see a man in a red cape fighting with someone else. He didn't know who it was, and he didn't care. All he saw was a man more concerned with fighting some pointless duel with another super being than with the innocents suffering because of it. He didn't know if this creature was an ally or an enemy. Either way, he could spell doom for the entire planet.


End file.
